The transfer that makes the most sense if you’re Manchester United still hasn’t been sorted out, as they make another approach to Everton for the services of Leighton Baines, improving their first offer which was rejected.
According to the Star, after seeing their initial bid of £12 million for the England left back get turned down, United are improving their offer to £16 million, hoping it will be enough to capture the 28-year old.
This isn’t just about David Moyes: United were following and spreading interests in Baines during Alex Ferguson’s tenure as well, but with Patrice Evra still having a firm hold of the starting position, no approach was being made.
Now that Evra has shown a clear decline in his ability over the last couple of seasons, while Fabio and Buttner haven’t shown signs they’re good enough to handle the job on their own, Baines become even more of a necessity, although Everton aren’t exactly pleased to see him go.
In fact, there are suggestion that they’re furious at Moyes trying to take the club’s best players along with him. Moyes was in charge when Baines was purchased from Wigan for £6 million in 2007, and Bill Kenwright is quite livid with Moyes trying to take away the player, especially with such a low initial offer.
Everton are trying to extend Baines’ contract; he’s currently on a deal that keeps him until 2017, but the Toffees are hoping that a £70,000 per week salary can keep him with them a bit longer, as it feels the battle for the 17-time England capped player is becoming somewhat of a personal issue for those involved.
Baines has played in 199 Premier League matches for Everton, scoring 16 goals and adding 25 assists, making the Premier League PFA Team of the Year two years in a row leading up to this summer.